Young Indian Woman ‘Burned Alive’ for Protesting Cutting of Trees

A woman in her 20s was burnt alive by a group of villagers in northern India for protesting the cutting of trees on her family’s farm to widen a road, according to local reports.

The woman, identified in local media as ‘Lalita’, had objected to the trees being cleared in the village of Hariyadhana, in the Rajasthan district. She was reportedly doused with petrol and set on fire Saturday by a group of people and died from her injuries in hospital on Sunday.

R'than: 20-yr-old girl burnt to death after allegedly protesting over cutting of trees in Jodhpur. Case being registered,probe on say police pic.twitter.com/ZV4AcadK1i

“The dispute was over a road, my sister was opposing it…they poured petrol on her and set her on fire,” the woman’s brother said after the attack.

However, some villagers allege the woman set herself ablaze during the dispute.

A revenue official, Om Prakash, and the ‘sarpanch’ or village leader, Ranveer Singh, are among the 10 people police named in their report on the incident.

“The sarpanch and other people poured petrol on her and burnt her alive,” said police officer Suresh Chaudhary, reports India Today citing news agency ANI. “We will arrest the accused soon, after a fair investigation.”

Outraged locals protested and demanded the arrest of the accused when the woman’s remains were returned to the village on Monday, the Hindustan Times reports.